Off-road and mountain biking has become very popular in recent years. Mountain bikes have gearing mechanisms which enable their riders to climb and descend very steep grades. When going uphill, a biker needs to have his seat placed high, so that his pedal stroke is most efficient. The biker's thigh muscles can only be used efficiently if the biker's leg is near or at full extension at the bottom of the pedal stroke. These requirements lead to a relatively high positioning of the seat for ascents.
However, descending a steep grade with a high seat placement can be very dangerous. The elevated center of gravity is not conducive to stability of the rider and the bike. Thus in order to reduce the likelihood of his being pitched over his handlebars during steep descents, the biker should be positioned with as low a center of gravity as is possible.
Therefore, for a biker to be near his peak performance on hilly terrain, he must raise his seat for a climb, and lower the seat for a descent. While most prior art seat devices make provisions for a rider to change the height of his seat with a minimal amount of effort, there is no device in the prior art which would allow a bicycle user to adjust the height of the seat while the bicycle is in use. The rider must stop, dismount, adjust the seat, and then continue his ride. This is particularly intolerable if the biker is under racing conditions.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a means for a rider to adjust his bicycle seat height while the bike is in use.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a powered means to make the adjustment so that the user need activate only a single switch.